Chennai: Additional Chief Secretary and Commissioner of Land Adminstration Dr Girija Vaidyanathan replaced Dr P Rama Mohana Rao as the new Chief Secretary of Tamil Nadu. As per a government order (GO) issued here today, she would also take over as Vigilance Commissioner and Commissioner for Administrative Reforms.

The GO did not state the reason for the new appointment, but her sudden elevation comes in the wake of the IT raid on the house and office premises of Rao and his family and the seizing of Rs 30 lakh cash in new currency and five kg of gold, and opposition demands for his sacking.

Rao’s properties were raided on allegations of his links with sand mining baron Sekhar Reddy, who was arrested by the CBI last evening following the seizure of several crores in new currency.

Dr Girija, who has a doctorate in health economics from IIT Madras, is an IAS officer of the 1981 Tamil Nadu cadre, and has help top posts in various departments, including health, education, agriculture, transport and planning.

She has been directly involved in the implementation of various programmes to improve maternal and child health in the health sector, and strengthening of the public health system in the state. During her tenure as Mission Director of the State Health Society, Tamil Nadu received the award for best performance among the Non EAG states.